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The Chicago Community Adult Health Study (CCAHS) consists of four interrelated components that were conducted simultaneously: (1) a survey of adult health on a probability sample of 3,105 Chicago adults, including direct physical measurements of their blood pressure and heart rate and of height, weight, waist and hip circumference, and leg length; (2) a biomedical supplement which collected blood and/or saliva samples on a subset of 661 survey respondents; (3) a community survey in which individuals described aspects of the social environment of all survey respondents' neighborhoods; and (4) a systematic social observation (SSO) of the blocks in which potential survey respondents resided, including a lost letter drop (Milgram et al. 1965) as an unobtrusive measure of neighborhood social capital/sense of responsibility to help others. The latter two extend a community survey and SSO of neighborhoods carried out by the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) in 1995. The adult health survey and the community survey were conducted jointly through face-to-face interviews with a stratified, multistage probability sample of 3,105 individuals aged 18 and over and living in the city of Chicago, with a response rate of 72 percent that is about the highest currently attainable in large urban areas. In addition, blood pressure, heart rate, and physical measurements (of height, weight, waist and hips, and leg length) were collected during the survey interview, and blood and saliva samples from 661 respondents or 60 percent of those doing the survey in the 80 "focal" neighborhood clusters (NCs). SSOs were conducted on 1,663 of the 1,672 city blocks on which each respondent lived. The CCAHS is the largest of five projects under the NIH-funded Michigan Interdisciplinary Center on Social Inequalities, Mind and Body Mind (#P50HD38986), one of five Mind-Body Centers funded by the National Institutes of Health in late 1999. This study will advance the understanding of socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparities in health, a major priority of the Public Health Service and the National Institutes of Health.

The PI-supplied summary mentions that the study is comprised of four components. However, for the purposes of this data release there are three distinct datasets. Demographic variables include age, birth year, race, ethnicity, number of children in the household, number of children living elsewhere, number of times the respondent has been married, and relationship status, religious preference, and sex.

In 2005, 592 African Americans from Milwaukee were added to the MIDUS sample to examine health issues in minority populations (for more details, see Midlife in the United States (MIDUS 2): Milwaukee African American Sample [ICPSR #22840]). Respondents were interviewed in their homes using a Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) survey protocol and asked to complete and return a Self-Administered Questionnaire (SAQ). Afterwards these individuals were eligible for participation in the same research protocol as the national MIDUS 2 sample, including cognitive, daily stress, biomarker, and neuroscience projects.

With support from the National Institute on Aging, a second wave of survey data collection on the Milwaukee sample was begun in 2016. The survey consisted of a 2.5 hour CAPI interview followed by a 45-page mailed SAQ. CAPI survey data was collected for 389 individuals, realizing a 78 percent response rate, adjusted for mortality and other eligibility criteria. Data collection for this follow-up wave largely repeated baseline assessments, with additional questions in selected areas (e.g., economic recession experiences, childhood experience with race, etc.). Following successful completion of the CAPI and SAQ protocols, individuals were eligible for participation in cognitive, daily stress, biomarker, and neuroscience projects.

In 2012-2013, the MIDUS Milwaukee Refresher study recruited a sample of 508 Milwaukee African American adults, aged 25 to 64, designed to replenish the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS 2): Milwaukee African American Sample, 2005-2006 (ICPSR 22840). This sample was also designed to increase the number of racial minorities included in the broader MIDUS study. The MIDUS Milwaukee Refresher survey employed the same assessments (demographic, psycho-social, and physical and mental health) as those assembled on the existing MIDUS sample, but with additional questions about the effect of the economic recession of 2008-09. A sample of African Americans from Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, was stratified by age, gender, and income.

Area probability sampling methods were used to identify potential respondents. Field interviewers screened households to determine if they contained any African American adults. There was additional screening to achieve an appropriate age/gender distribution in a manner similar to what was done for the original MIDUS sample (Midlife in the United States (MIDUS 1), 1995-1996 [ICPSR 2760]). Milwaukee respondents were interviewed in their homes using a 2.5-hour Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) protocol and afterwards asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire (SAQ). All measures paralleled those used in the larger MIDUS samples. In addition to successful completion of the survey, participants were asked to complete a cognitive assessment by phone. Some respondents were eligible to participate in additional MIDUS projects: daily diary assessments, biomarker assessments, and neuroscience assessments.

In 2012-2013, the MIDUS Milwaukee Refresher study recruited a sample of 508 Milwaukee African American adults, aged 25 to 64, designed to replenish the original MIDUS Milwaukee 1 survey that was designed to increase the number of racial minorities in 2005. The MIDUS Milwaukee Refresher survey employed the same comprehensive assessments (demographic, psycho-social, and physical and mental health) as those on the existing MIDUS sample, with additional questions about the effect of the Great Recession in 2008-09.

In 2023-2024, the second wave of survey data was collected from 327 longitudinal Refresher Milwaukee participants, including the questions (1) repeated from the Refresher 1, (2) new impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic replacing the questions related to the Great Recession in the Refresher 1, and (3) the additional questions in selected areas (e.g., AD8, IADL, family history of dementia). This new longitudinal MIDUS Refresher Milwaukee data allow examination of period effects on health and well-being related to the COVID-19 pandemic by comparing the pre-pandemic MIDUS Refresher Milwaukee 1 data with the post-pandemic MIDUS Refresher Milwaukee 2 data. Further, the longitudinal MIDUS Refresher datasets (wave 1 and wave 2) allow investigation of the two major macro-level historic events, the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic, on health and well-being.